Tire building drum



. July 5, 1952 I A. R. 0| clcco ETAL TIRE BUILDING DRUM Filed July '7, 1949 2 Sl-IEETS-Sl-IEET 1 00s WE INVENTOR. ANTHONY R. DI OIOOO DONALD E. ERICSON July 15, 1952 A. R. 0| CICCO EI'AL TIRE BUILDING DRUM Filed July '7, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET z INVENTOR. ANTHONY R. DI CICCO DONALD E. ERICS'ON TM Mi .4 TTORNE Y.

Patented July 15, 1952 rmarnumnme nnum Anthony R. Di .Qicco and Donaldv Ericson De- I troit, MichL, assignors t0,- United'- Stat'esjBiubbelt.. Company, New York, N'. Y'.', a 'corporation of New J ersey' f Application-J y 7, 1949.: erial NQ-., -1,0s,a9;s

1 V V invention relates to tirebuilding .drums and particularly to a tire buildingdrum on which to build' small rim diameter pneumatic. tires according to the well known fiat band method One ofthe particular requirements. for tire building drums is that the drumbe collapsible so that tire components maybe assembled over the drum and so that the completed tire may be removed from the. drum. Most. conventional types of tire building drums includea collapsible mechanism whereby diiferent segments, of-the drum: collapse progressively in. succession until the drum is sufficiently small in diameter to permit a. removal of an assembled tire therefrom. 0n small diameter drums, it is diificult to collapse the segments by. conventional methods because of the lack of: spaceinto. which thesegthat the supporting. armsv or adjacent. segments be offset, and-that each arc. of. the. segments be lessthan that are of the. segment which would otherwise produce a complete. circum-- ference. In other-words, there is a .gap. between adjacent segments when. the drum is in its operating-or expanded position. Whenthe. drum is collapsed, the adjacentv segments move together to'close thegap. It, has been found. that this gapbetween segmentsis not objectionable, insofar, as stitching requirements arev concerned, in buildingup the plies and tread of the tire.. Also included. in combination with the drum is .a. pair of head setting, rings adapted to hold. tire beads and to. .movethe beads axiallyrelative to the drum during'th'e tire building operation. A

pneumatic/cylinder isempIoyed. for purposes of collapsing and expanding the. drum.

Among the objects andv advantages of our,

struction and. which is, capable of maintaining a. uniformly accurate outer diameter; to. provide suchadrum-Which may-be collapsedor expanded by pneumatic or hydraulic: means; to provide such. a: drum .which' is capable of. adjustment objects and; advantages will. appear more fully in the following. .detailed description when considered... in...connection with theaccompanying -.drawings, in which:

Figure l is aside --elevationa1.view, partly section, illustrating the drum forming an embodiment of our invention; Fig.. 2,is anendelevational view thereof; Fig. .3..is. a. transverse View, in section oflan end .view. of the drum taken along lines III -III of Figure, 1.;

Figure4 is an enlarged longitudinal and sectional. view .of the tire building drum. taken along lines Ill-IV of E'igureii; and,

Figure ,5 is .a similar view of a'portion of the drum. illustrating. the drum with its-segments in collapsed position.

Withreference. to. the drawing and, in'p'articular to Figure 1,v we show an embodiment .of ourinventi'on, in thefform of a. tire. building drum-l Essentially the drum I comprises a plurality of arcuate or .curved segments '2: Each segment includes ajbody" member 3 '(Fi'gure4) and drum surface members 4f 'andlii'in' the form of .arcuate shaped plates attachedto the body member 3, These members are. attached. to the body member 3 by means of machine bolts G'gextending through a slot 1 in the body'member 3. By this. arrangement, it ispossible to :slide the drum surface members, land. 5. over. the surface of. the body, member 3 so as to vary the;width of the drum. When the drum surface members are extendedagap will appear at the. central por- .tionof thedrum. This is covered'by meansof athinshield B lying ontop of the drum surface members and attached to thebody member-3 by meansof. a. machine screw 9.

Each ofv the segments 2 is supported by links In and II attached. to the body 'memberz3jby means of pins [.2 and. I3} respectively. The opposite ends of the links In and H arepivotally attached to a tubular shaft M by means of pins l5 and. I6, respectively. The tubular shaft l4 functions as the main driving support for the drum (Figures 1 and 4'). An enlarged end l4 ofithe tubular shaft I4 is supportedlby conventional bearings and a conventional standwhich houses driving means for rotating. the drum. A suitable pulley or gear (not shown) may be the extension shaft 2 I.

--, acoasso 3 attached to the enlarged end 14' of the shaft It by means of the keyway l6. Since the links l and H are relatively wide, as measured circumferentially, and since the tubular shaft M is relatively small, it is necessary to offset the links associated with adjacent segments. As shown in Figure 4, it will be noted that the links and H which support the upper segment and jacent links is more clearly .shown'in'Figure 3.

Extending axially through the tubular shaft [4 is a rod I! mounted for reciprocal move- 7 ment within the shaft l l. Iniorder to move the shaft in an axial direction, we provide a conventional type of double actuating fluid op-' erablecylinder l8. This cylinder. includes inlet and outlet conduits land 29 through which fluid pressure is conducted. An example of a jfluid operating cylinder of this type is shown in a patent to Olson, No.'1,544,6'79, dated July 7, 1925.

The shaft ll connects with the piston in the cylinder l8 and extends throughout the length of the tubular shaft [4 terminating with an open end projecting shaft 2!. Attached to the 'shaftfll'l and held in place by means of a shoulder on the shaft and a nut 22 is a hub 23. To this hub is attached a plurality of arms 24 pivotally connected to the hub at 25 and also pivotally connected to the pins l2 which support the links l0. Axial outward movement 'of the I shaft I! by means of thecylinder [8 causes the arms 24 to move outwardly carrying the links H] therewith. As a result of this movement, the drum segments 2 are caused to collapse to a position as shownin Figure 5. In'this collapsed position, the gaps between thesegments 2' (Figure 3) are closed and the drum becomes sufficiently reduced in diameter so that tire components may be removed therefrom. Similar'to the linkslil, the arms 24 are attached to the hub 23 so that adjacent arms are offa set relative to each other, thus enabling a greater numberof arms to be supported on the relatively small diameter hub 23.

, prises essentially" a bead supporting ring 28 supported by a cone-shaped flange 29 attached 7 to a hub 30 which is axially slidable on the enlarged portion M of the shaft.

The bead supporting means 2'5 at the opposite end of the drum includes abead supporting ring 3| held in position by a flange 32. This flange 32 includes a hub 33 which is slidable on Attached to the outside of the hub 33 is a bearing 34 and a re- .tainer 35. A hand arm 35 is attached the retainer 35 and also engages a hub 31 axially slidable on a shaft 38 positioned in parallel re' lationship with the shaft 2!. The shaft 38 is held in a fixed position by the main drum supporting structure, not shown.

In the operation of the drum, the cylinder I8 is actuated so as to collapse'the segments of I the drum; The head supporting means 2'! is 4 supporting means 26 is then moved axially along the enlarged portion [4 and away from the drum a distance SllffiClBIlt so as not to interfere with other tire components about to be assembled on the drum. The drum is now expanded and various tire plies are Wrapped around the drum. Attheproper period in the manufacturing cycle, the bead supporting means 26 is moved by hand axially along the enlarged portion l4 so that the tire beads supported thereon engages the plies positioned on the drum, Also, a bead element is placed onto the bead ring 3| and the bead supporting means Z2! by means of the arm 35 is caused to slide along the shafts 38 and 2| until the tire bead supported by the ring 3! engages the tire components assembled onto the drum. When the tire beads are secured. by means of a stitching operation to the other tire elements on the drum, the bead supporting meansZB and 21 are moved out of position and the remaining components of the tire are assembled onto the drum. When this operation is complete, the cylinder I8 is actuated to collapse the segments of the drum. This allows sufficient clearance for the removal 'of the assembled tire, and the drum is now in position fOr repeating a similar cycle of operation.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A tire building drum comprising, a plurality of spaced arcuatesegments collectively describing a contiguous circle, a hollow shaft, at least two, spaced, parallel links pivotally attached at one of their ends to each segment and at their other end to said hollow shaft, a

shaft extending axially through the hollow shaft, a hub attached to the shaft, an arm for each segment pivotally attached at one end to the segment end of one of said parallel links and at its other end to said hub, and means for moving said shaft axially of the hollow shaft,

' whereby said links are moved about their pivots and the segments collapsed to reduce the diameter of the drum. v

2. A tire building drum comprising, a plurality of spaced arcuate segments collectively describing a contiguous circle, a hollow shaft, at

'le'as tItWo, spaced, parallel links'pivotally attached atone of their ends to each segment and at their other end to said hollow'shaft, the links of each adjacent segment being attached to the hollow shaft at points longitudinally spaced from adjacent radially extending links, a shaft extending axially through. the hollow shaft, a hub attached to the shaft, an arm for, each segment pivotally attached at one end to the segment I .end ofone of said parallel links and at its other end to said hub, each of said arms being pivotally attached to said hub at points longitudinally spaced from adjacent radially extending 'arms, and means for moving .said shaft axially of the hollowshaft, whereby said links are moved about their pivots and the segments collapsed ate plates attachedfto each body member to form collectively a contiguous circleythe body member and plate combination including a longitudinally extending slotand means engaging each slot to permit longitudinal adjustment of the plates relative to the body members, at least two, spaced, parallel links pivotally attached at shaft, whereby said links are moved about'their pivots and the segments collapsed to reduce the diameter of the drum.

4. A tire building drum comprising, a plurality of arcuate segments collectively describing a contiguous circle, a hollow shaft, at least two, spaced parallel links pivotally attached'at one of their ends to each segment and at the other end to said hollow shaft, a shaft extending axially through the hollow shaft, a hub attached to the shaft, an arm for each segment pivotally attached at one end to the segment end of one of said parallel links and at its other end to said hub, means for moving said shaft axially of the hollow shaft, whereby said links are moved about their pivots and the segments collapsed to reduce the diameter of the drum, a tire bead supporting ring mounted in free r0- tatable and slidable positionv over said hollow shaft and adapted to engage the rim of said segments, an extension rod having a free end and forming an extension of said shaft retained in the hollow shaft, and a second tire bead supporting ring mounted in free rotatable and'slidable position over said extension rod and adapted to engage the opposite rim of said segments. 7 v

' ANTHONY R; DI CICCO.

DONALD E. ERICSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Stevens et a1. July 4, 1950 

1. A TIRE BUILDING DRUM COMPRISING, A PLURALITY OF SPACED ARCUATE SEGMENTS COLLECTIVELY DESCRIBING A CONTIGUOUS CIRCLE, A HOLLOW SHAFT, AT LEAST TWO, SPACED, PARALLEL LINKS PIVOTALLY ATTACHED AT ONE OF THEIR ENDS TO EACH SEGMENT AND AT THEIR OTHER END TO SAID HOLLOW SHAFT, A SHAFT EXTENDING AXIALLY THROUGH THE HOLLOW SHAFT, A HUB ATTACHED TO THE SHAFT, AN ARM FOR EACH SEGMENT PIVOTALLY ATTACHED AT ONE END TO THE SEGMENT END OF ONE OF SAID PARALLEL LINKS AND AT ITS OTHER END TO SAID HUB, AND MEANS FOR MVOING SAID SHAFT AXIALLY OF THE HOLLOW SHAFT, WHEREBY SAID LINKS ARE MOVED ABOUT THEIR PIVOTS AND THE SEGMENTS COLLAPSED TO REDUCE THE DIAMETER OF THE DRUM. 